It is time for Bryan Burkhardt and Jamal White to begin their reign as president and vice president of the Government of the Student Body.

Burkhardt and White, seniors in computer engineering, both were engineering senators during the 1997-98 academic year and have participated in many campus activities and organizations.

Burkhardt has been active with Homecoming, Veishea and Team prISUm. White has been involved with the Black Student Alliance, the Freshman Honors Program and many other activities. He also is a resident assistant in Towers Residence Association.

The duo wants to expand many of the GSB programs created by the previous administration, such as the textbook exchange, Burkhardt said.

They also want to work with community outreach projects, instructor evaluations, a multicultural center and tuition concerns.

In an effort to find out if students’ money is being allocated to organizations and activities they prefer, Burkhardt said his administration plans to distribute a student fees survey.

“Tuition organization and discussion is one of the foremost issues this year,” Burkhardt said. Burkhardt and White met with students from the two other regent universities this summer to discuss tuition.

He also is planning on promoting the GSB homepage to keep students informed about GSB and other student organizations and events.

“We want to promote as many organizations as possible,” Burkhardt said.

Burkhardt said he wanted to become GSB president because he saw it as an opportunity to help students.

“I like to be around other students and help people,” he said. “I like being a problem-solver.”

Burkhardt said more plans will unfold as the year progresses.

“We’ve tried to develop as much as we could throughout the summer,” he said.

Improving safety on campus is something Burkhardt and White already have committed themselves to addressing. Both executives toured part of campus with the Department of Public Safety to conduct a lighting survey.

“[Improving lighting on campus] is not only something Jamal and I have committed ourselves to, we’re also concerned about safety,” Burkhardt said. “We took note of areas in need of lighting and emergency phones.”

He said he hopes to get funding for lighting and emergency phone improvements by passing a bill through the special projects fund.

Also this summer, Burkhardt worked extensively with the Carver committee. He is co-chairman of the committee, which plans events to showcase Iowa State.

The theme for this year’s committee is “Inspiring students to become their best: The legacy of George Washington Carver.”

White said he hopes that theme will inspire students to excel in academics.

A main goal of both president and vice president of GSB is to get the student body more involved with GSB, an organization that was formed to serve and be a voice for the students.

To help get more students involved, White said he plans on “being more in touch with the student body. I don’t want to become complacent and serve just one role or one function.”

Burkhardt and White hope students will come to GSB with their concerns and ideas, and that they’ll be more aware of what GSB can do for them.

“[The previous GSB administration] made great strides, but there is still a long way to go,” Burkhardt said. “This is a key issue to be dealt with this year.

“Not all students report to us their concerns,” he said. “There is such a wide variety of students — international, non-traditional, traditional — it’s hard to get a feel on what their views are.”